Mistaken identity

In case you don't read my daughter's blog here's our gardening faux pas if you can call it that. I posted here about our Rumor Weed. We originally thought it was a pumpkin because there were pumpkin seeds in the bird feed at one point. When we saw what was growing on the vine we changed our minds and said, "no, it's a watermelon." Last week Amy thought the watermelon was big enough to pick, so she brought it in.



After supper she got out the knife to cut it and much to her disappointment this is what she found.



We were right the first time about it being a pumpkin. If we'd let it ripen it would have been huge! But the plant is still out there growing itself around everything. We can't even let the dog out that way anymore.





Maybe we'll get a pumpkin out of it yet.

Garden's bounty

I turned most of these tomatoes into pasta sauce. This time I did the blender method. I learned this from a group of ladies from church just last week. What you do is put your clean, cored, whole unpeeled tomatoes in a big stock pot. Cook on low until there's a good amount of liquid in the pot. I should mention that I also added onion (one small onion per 4 cups tomatoes) at the beginning along with salt about a tbs. (although I doubt that's enough since I had lots & lots of tomatoes in a really big pot). Toward the end of the process I added basil and oregano. I used dried because that's what I have. It's supposed to be about 1 tsp each per 4 cups tomatoes. You could add whatever other veggie you like in your sauce like green peppers possibly. After it's all good and cooked start blending it in your blender a little at a time. Put in jars, seal with lids and can as desired. I usually skip this step and just store mine in the refrigerator. If you want to store yours on a shelf they have to be canned.

I ended up with about 9 jars (some are quarts some are a little smaller) of sauce and 4 jars of the broth that's left. I'll use that as stock in soups.

DH just picked another half wheelbarrow full today. I may just dice freeze those. Most of them are Romas. I think they'll be good until Monday. I should also mention that Amy has been helpful in the whole process.

Amy's driving story

One of my previous blog posts was about Amy's first driving lesson. You may read her story here.

Virginia trip

One of the things we did while visiting dh's family was to see some of the D.C. sites.



We went to the Air & Space museum and the National Museum of American History.



The one place Amy really wanted to go to was the Air & Space Museum.









Part of the Smithsonian seen from the mall.







Construction going on near the Jefferson Memorial.

We drove by the Lincoln Memorial, but the pictures aren't that great. We'll have to go back another time to see more. Next time we won't drive, we'll take the Metro and walk everywhere. Parking is next to impossible!

Amy's first driving lesson

I missed most of it. :( But her Pappy took her to the field in front of the barn and had her drive through the gate. She'll need to tell the story on her blog. I'm sure she'll do a better job. I do have pictures of her driving up the driveway.











I think they had fun. :)

Aprons

I was busy over the last couple weeks sewing these little aprons for party favors for the AG Meet-up. Well it so happens that we're not having it. Not enough people were coming, so we canceled it. We'll try again another time. But now I've got these cute little aprons, not that I'm upset about that! I'm going to list two of them on Etsy to see if they sell. I'm not sure what about the rest of them yet.

Gazpacho

Last week I made Gazpacho for the first time. Most of the ingredients came from our garden. When I went searching for recipes several weeks ago, I came across ones that had bread in them. Not wanting bread in mine I searched for gluten free recipes. I found this one.



Here's my version. (I can't ever do it just the way it's written.)

2 tbs tomatoes, peeled, seeded
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded
1 green pepper, seeded
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup packed Italian parsley
1 clove garlic
2 tsp cumin, ground
2 tsp salt
3 oz. tomato paste mixed with 3 oz. water
2 tbs red wine vinegar
3 tbs olive oil

I did the boiling water method of peeling the tomatoes.
In the food processor, chop until slightly chunky the cucumber and green pepper. Remove to large serving bowl.
In the food processor, chop onion and parsley. Add to bowl.
In the food processor, puree the tomatoes with garlic, cumin, salt, and tomato paste mixture. Add to bowl.
Then add vinegar and olive oil. Stir well. Chill for two hours.

Everyone liked it. :) Amy will probably not like it the second time, I could be wrong, but that seems to be her way.

The picture is of the leftovers taken several days after I made it. It still tastes great, but the coloring was more vibrant when it was fresh.